MASTER COLLECTION: VOLUME 1
Narratively, MGS2 is an absolute knock-out mix of batshit "video-gamey" storytelling and incredibly prophetic real world connections.
Gameplay wise, the stealth picks up right where the first left off and is a lot of fun. The direct combat on the other hand... sometimes made me want to shove a rusty knife up my ass. I know that playing without the PS2 controller is doing it a bit of a disservice, but even still, it always felt unintuitive and a bit clunky, so it just never clicked for me. This is worsened by the fact that for some unknown fucking reason neither Bluepoint, nor Konami added a sensitivity slider for the first person aiming. I am very serious when I say the way sensitivity works here is the polar opposite of how I like it. Needless to say, having to quickly navigate things in first person was just never a good time for me. Yeah yeah, I know, I know, I've been spoiled by modern games but counterpoint - if you're gonna charge $60 for your 2023 re-release, MAYBE DO ANYTHING TO MAKE IT WORTH THAT $60.
That all being said, I did really like most of the game and much like in my review of the first, I don't want to hold this shitty re-release against the OG game. For a 2001 game, yeah its pretty fuckin insane, and for a first playthrough in 2023, it's still pretty damn great. It did piss me off enough times for me to hesitate giving it a higher score though, but maybe I'll sleep on it and reconsider. And you can probably blame LiquidLink98 for setting my gameplay expectations too high.
Edit: Hmmm fine. I slept on it. Bumping it up.
Narratively, MGS2 is an absolute knock-out mix of batshit "video-gamey" storytelling and incredibly prophetic real world connections.
Gameplay wise, the stealth picks up right where the first left off and is a lot of fun. The direct combat on the other hand... sometimes made me want to shove a rusty knife up my ass. I know that playing without the PS2 controller is doing it a bit of a disservice, but even still, it always felt unintuitive and a bit clunky, so it just never clicked for me. This is worsened by the fact that for some unknown fucking reason neither Bluepoint, nor Konami added a sensitivity slider for the first person aiming. I am very serious when I say the way sensitivity works here is the polar opposite of how I like it. Needless to say, having to quickly navigate things in first person was just never a good time for me. Yeah yeah, I know, I know, I've been spoiled by modern games but counterpoint - if you're gonna charge $60 for your 2023 re-release, MAYBE DO ANYTHING TO MAKE IT WORTH THAT $60.
That all being said, I did really like most of the game and much like in my review of the first, I don't want to hold this shitty re-release against the OG game. For a 2001 game, yeah its pretty fuckin insane, and for a first playthrough in 2023, it's still pretty damn great. It did piss me off enough times for me to hesitate giving it a higher score though, but maybe I'll sleep on it and reconsider. And you can probably blame LiquidLink98 for setting my gameplay expectations too high.
Edit: Hmmm fine. I slept on it. Bumping it up.